b. 1933 English mezzo-soprano Baker studied in London, and made her debut in Smetana’s The Secret in Oxford in 1956. She sang Handel roles early in her career, and made a particular impression as Purcell’s Dido, a role she recorded several times. At Covent Garden, where she first appeared as Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream ...
b. 1933, English Known for her rich, expressive and intensely personal performances, Baker’s voice is equally at home with Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Berlioz and Walton. Britten wrote the role of Kate Julian for her in Owen Wingrave, while William Walton (1902–83) adjusted the part of Cressida in Troilus and Cressida to suit her voice. ...
(Vocals, dancer, 1906–75) Born Freda Josephine McDonald, the St. Louis-born entertainer danced in the 1921 Sissle/Blake musical Shuffle Along before gaining a bigger role in their Chocolate Dandies in 1924, leading to appearances at the Cotton Club. The following year, she introduced ‘le jazz hot’ to Paris in La Revue Négre (also featuring Sidney Bechet) with ...
(Trumpet, 1929–88) Chet Baker was an icon of cool at the height of his fame in the 1950s. His recording of ‘My Funny Valentine’ with Gerry Mulligan in 1952 established him as a star of the emerging cool jazz genre; his boyish, film-star looks (later ravaged by drug abuse) and a light, seductively lyrical trumpet style assured his ...
(Guitar, b. 1925) McHouston Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally a jazz player, he switched to blues after seeing guitarist Pee Wee Crayton. He began his recording career at Savoy in 1952 and became the first-call guitarist for R&B session work in New York. He teamed with vocalist Sylvia Vanderpool and, as Mickey & Sylvia, ...
(Fiddle, b. 1926) Bill Monroe often introduced Kenny Baker onstage as ‘the greatest fiddler in bluegrass music’. It was no exaggeration, for Baker, a third-generation fiddler from Kentucky, was capable of blistering breaks, elegant, long-bow phrases and swinging syncopation. He joined Monroe in 1956 and played with him off and on for more than 30 ...
(Vocals, b. 1929) Chicago-born Delores Williams sang in church choirs, but after bandleader Fletcher Henderson discovered her, she became the first black torch singer of the rock era, and in 1953, was one of the early artists signed to Atlantic Records. Many of her 20 US R&B hits were novelty items, including her 1957 No. ...
(Vocals, b. 1966) Jackson’s music career started slowly, though she performed with the family firm aged seven. The youngest of The Jacksons of Michael etc. fame, she was also a child actor but it was her third collection Control (1986), which gained her musical recognition. Produced by ace production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – as all ...
b. 1944 English baritone Allen’s early career was spent with the Welsh National Opera, in works ranging from Mozart to Britten. He made his Covent Garden debut as Donald in Britten’s Billy Budd in 1971, and his Metropolitan Opera debut as Papageno (The Magic Flute) in 1981. He appeared at English National Opera as Busoni’s Faust in 1986 and ...
1907–73, English Possessing an ironic wit and a supreme lyric gift, Wystan Hugh Auden, born in York, England, in 1907, was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. To him, opera was ‘the last refuge of the High Style’, since it was the sole art that could survive the pessimism of modernity. ...
1902–83, English Walton had a strong musical background and was the child of two musicians – his mother was a voice teacher and his father was a chorus-master. Walton as a young boy was a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, later becoming an undergraduate there. His Belshazzar’s Feast (1931) and Symphony No. 1 (1935) assured him of his ...
When Vassar Clements formed a band called Hillbilly Jazz in 1975, Bill Monroe’s former fiddler pulled the cover off the hidden connection between country music and jazz. The two genres had more in common than most people thought. After all, Jimmie Rodgers recorded with Louis Armstrong early in their careers; jazz legend Charlie Christian debuted on Bob Wills’ radio ...
Bass Drum The dominant feature of every military band is its big bass drum. Throughout the history of percussion instruments, this drum has been the mainstay of time-keeping, whether it is used for a marching army or in a late-twentieth century heavy metal band. Early versions of the bass drum (it was certainly known in Asia around 3500 BC) ...
The spinet is known by many names and has several definitions. Perhaps the most misleading is the American usage of the term to denote a small upright piano. The most confusing is the use of the word to describe a square piano, and a more ancient confusion arises from its use as a synonym for the virginals or, indeed ...
‘The Bat’ Composed: 1874 Premiered: 1874, Vienna Libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genée after Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy’s Le réveillon Prologue Falke wants revenge for a practical joke when Eisenstein left him sleeping, dressed as a bat, outside the Vienna law courts. Act I Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, recognizes the voice serenading her as her ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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